My name is Evangeline Oriana Aldridge (Evie for short) and I'm 18 years old.
I was on spring break in Adirondacks, NY with some of my best college friends: Jacqueline Ingle "Jackie", Delilah Langston "Lila", Clementine Dempsey "Clea" and several guys we know quite well.
We had a great time. We went hiking quite a bit, which isn't usually my type of thing, but with my friends we had a blast. We rented a boat and went around the lake, and we even went zip-lining. I climbed trees as if I were just a little kid again, and I tried archery. It was the trip of a lifetime, but the last night before we were to head home, something terrible happened...
***
I, Evie Aldridge, on my last night of spring break in Adirondacks, NY, was out hiking with two of my best friends Jackie Ingle and Clea Dempsey and two of the guys that came with us on the trip. The guys' names were Stellan Weatherbee "Stan" and Milan Valentine "Miles"
It was late when we started to head back from the hike. We all were tired, and we started to realize we were headed in circles, completely lost. After several hours of searching in the dark for the path to head back to camp, Miles suggested that we just sleep in the woods and find our way back to camp when it gets light in the morning. It was a nice night, fairly warm but not too much so, so we all agreed and we found a nice spot to curl up under a tree. It took me a while to fall asleep, to be honest I was a little scared of all of the creatures that were outside, but the guys assured me that the animals wouldn't come.
They were right. Forest creatures didn't come. What came was far worse...
***
I was fast asleep when I felt a hand cover my mouth. My eyes popped open to see the night sky and a dark figure above me - a man. He whispered in my ear, "Struggle and I kill you." My heart was racing and I began to pant as he grabbed my wrist and jerked me off of the ground. I saw that there were at least two other men there, and they had Clea and Miles. The other two were no where in my sight range. I was scanning the area, still taking in the situation with one of the mysterious man's hands over my mouth and the other holding my arms behind my back. Suddenly, he removed his hand and duct tape replaced it. A burlap sack was placed over my head and ropes tied my arms behind me. The man told me to walk and I complied; what else could I do? I felt the barrel of a gun dig into my back and it sent chills down my spine. I could hear Clea crying and in my head I wondered about the two friends I hadn't seen.
It seemed like we had been walking forever when my feet hit pavement. I heard a car engine start up and doors open. The man holding me began yelling for me to get in as he shoved me forward. I stumbled, but somehow managed to climb into what I figured out was a hollowed out van. I could hear Clea breathing heavily and another familiar breathing sound who was Miles.
The van came to a stop and the three of us were ushered out of the van. They brought us through hallways and rooms until we reached a certain place and there was a chair. I sat as they told me to and they took of my burlap hood. I looked around; I was in a warehouse style building and Clea and Miles were next to me and across the room were Jackie and Stan tied up the same way.
A man wearing dark clothes stepped out into the middle of the room. He had dark clothes, pale skin, brown hair and semi-thick facial hair. He stood there and introduced himself as Jasper Viscardi. He said we'd be seeing a lot of him for the rest of our - what he said would be short- life.
***
The next year and half was a tragic whirlwind. I won't go into detail with it again, but Jackie, Clea, and Miles) all died by the hand of our captor. Stan and I really bonded through the terrible experience. One day, just less than a week after Clea died, SWAT rushed in. They shot Viscardi and arrested all of his assistants. They freed me and Stan and got us psychological help. We reunited withLila, Oliver Canterbury and Barnaby "Barney" Campion from the camping trip and it was a joyous event. They had missed us both greatly and they blamed themselves for our disappearance.
Stan and I became best friends. We were the only people in the whole world that understood what the other went through. One day, a few years later, out of the blue he asked me to marry him. He told me that he could not possibly be with anyone else because no one can understand him like I do. My first instinct was to say absolutely not, but he gave me time to think about it. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. He really is the only one who gets what I had been through and why I act the way I do. A week after he asked, I told him yes.
Six months later, we are married! Our honeymoon is in Italy. A few months later, I discover that I'm pregnant! I couldn't be more delighted, I need a baby to focus my attention on.
***
Shortly after our honeymoon, I found out that I'm pregnant with a girl! Stan and I couldn't be more excited. During my pregnancy, I was able to focus more on the baby on the way, so it kept me from flashing back so much to that spring break.
Early morning on August, 29th, I started to go into labor. I was in labor all day and our little princess was born later that evening. When she arrived, we named her Aleah Scarlett Weatherbee, after our late friend Clea.
Both Stan and me are head over heels for Ali. The more time we spend as a family, the less time we spend flashing back. Life is better than I ever imagined. It isn't long until I find myself pregnant again.
This pregnancy, I'm having a boy and we are stoked. Baby #2 arrives on March, 24th and we name him Nigel Cooper Weatherbee, "Niles" for short to honor our late friend Miles.